Americans United - Roy Moorehttps://au.org/tags/roy-moore
enRoy Moore Won’t Be Joining The U.S. Senate. Here’s Why That’s A Good Thinghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/roy-moore-won-t-be-joining-the-us-senate-here-s-why-that-s-a-good-thing
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The people of Alabama did America a favor last night by voting against Roy Moore for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Moore is just what we don’t need right now. His disdain for fundamental American values – from religious freedom to civil rights and equality to the rule of law – makes him a danger to our democracy.</p>
<p>Americans United knows Moore all too well. He’s been a strident voice against church-state separation for decades, and we’ve fought back and won against many of his reckless actions.</p>
<p>Moore has a poor grasp of U.S. history, but, even more disturbingly, he’s blind to the reality of the country as it exists today. He has no respect for our vibrant, diverse society that embraces people of all faiths and none.</p>
<p>The main problem with Moore is that he believes his religious beliefs trump the Constitution. Moore, who still calls himself Judge Moore even though he has been twice removed from the office of chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, really doesn’t seem to understand how the Constitution or the courts actually work.</p>
<p>In 2016, six months after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld marriage equality, then-chief justice Moore defied the federal courts. He <a href="https://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-applauds-ala-chief-justice-roy-moore-s-suspension-for-defying">issued an “administrative order”</a> to Alabama probate judges insisting that a state law banning marriage for same-sex couples was still in effect. His willingness to flout the Supreme Court was likely based on his disturbing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/opinion/donald-trump-roy-moore.html?_r=1">belief</a> that “homosexual conduct” is “abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature and of nature’s God” and should be the subject of “physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution.”</p>
<p>As a result of his order, couples in several counties were denied marriage licenses. Americans United, along with allied groups, was already representing several couples who challenged Alabama’s marriage ban in federal court and won. Because Moore elevated his personal beliefs above the Constitution, we had to go back to federal court to stop the state from enforcing his illegal order. After an ethics investigation, he was suspended from his position.</p>
<p>Moore’s bad habit of defying court orders didn’t start then. In 2001, after then-chief justice Moore arranged to have a two-and-a-half-ton Ten Commandments monument displayed at the Judicial Building in Montgomery, Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama and the Southern Poverty Law Center <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/december-2001-church-state/featured/monumental-mistake">sued</a>. A federal court ordered the monument removed, but Moore refused. In 2003, a state judicial oversight body ultimately removed Moore from the court because he refused to follow the court order.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/Roy%20Moore.JPG" style="width: 800px; height: 535px;" /></p>
<p><em>Roy Moore's disdain for fundamental American values – from religious freedom to civil rights and equality to the rule of law – makes him a danger to our democracy.</em></p>
<p>But Americans United’s first run-in with Moore was way back in 1997 when we sued a couple of public school districts in Alabama because they were promoting religion, including by sponsoring prayers in classrooms, during school assemblies, at graduations and before sporting events.</p>
<p>A federal court ruled that the school districts had violated the Constitution, but Moore, who was then a state judge in a completely different county, <a href="https://au.org/media/press-releases/judge-in-alabama-issues-order-blocking-federal-court-decision-against-school">issued an order</a> attempting to nullify the federal court’s decision. His order – wrong on religious freedom law and court rules – was rightly ignored.</p>
<p>As a senator, Moore would have been offering the president “advice and consent” on all federal court appointments. During the campaign, he said <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/senators-skeptical-about-roy-moore-joining-the-judiciary-committee-2017-12">he hoped</a> to sit on the Judiciary Committee, which provides oversight of our federal courts and constitutional issues that arise in Congress. That won’t be happening.</p>
<p>Moore does not support religious freedom. He <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/26/16365774/judge-roy-moore-us-constitution">has stated</a>, on more than <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/judge-first-amendment-only-christians">one occasion</a>, that he believes the Constitution was written only to protect Christians (and, of course, he defines “Christian” in a narrow, fundamentalist way). Yet, it was still a surprise when he wrote an <a href="#3t4f6S936kMAMtgv.99">op-ed</a> asserting that U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) was not fit to take office because he is a Muslim who announced plans to take his oath of office on a Quran. Comparing the Quran to "Mein Kampf," Moore wrote, “Congress has the authority and should act to prohibit Ellison from taking the congressional oath today!”</p>
<p>This anti-Muslim sentiment also led Moore to fall for the false claim that some parts of the United States are operating under Islamic law. During an interview with Vox in 2017, Moore asserted, “There are communities under Shariah law right now in our country.” When asked to name specific communities that follow Shariah, Moore replied, “Well, there’s Shariah law, as I understand it, in Illinois, Indiana – up there. I don’t know.” (The fact-checking website PolitiFact <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/aug/16/roy-moore/alabamas-roy-moore-says-whole-communities-midwest-/">rated the claim</a> “Pants on Fire.”)</p>
<p>Had he been elected, Moore would have had a say in shaping our civil rights laws and foreign policy, endangering the rights of Muslims and those of minority faiths, as well as non-believers.</p>
<p>For 20 years, Americans United has sounded the alarm about Moore’s troubling views, and we’ve fought him in court – and won. We were ready to take him on again as a senator. But now we don’t have to do that, and that’s very good news! </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/us-senate-0">US Senate</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/lgbtq-rights">LGBTQ Rights</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/strawser-v-strange">Strawser v. Strange</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ten-commandments">Ten Commandments</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/school-prayer">School Prayer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/anti-muslim-discrimination">Anti-Muslim Discrimination</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sharia-law">Sharia Law</a></span></div></div>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 15:18:09 +0000Liz Hayes13436 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/roy-moore-won-t-be-joining-the-us-senate-here-s-why-that-s-a-good-thing#commentsAmericans United Applauds Alabama Voters' Rejection Of Roy Moore For U.S. Senate Seathttps://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-applauds-alabama-voters-rejection-of-roy-moore-for-us-senate
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>In response to Roy Moore’s failure to win election to the U.S. Senate, Robert Boston, interim executive director-communications, for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, issued the following statement:</p>
<p>“By rejecting Roy Moore's skewed vision of our Constitution, the people of Alabama did the country a great service tonight. Moore’s disdain for fundamental American values – from religious freedom to civil rights and equality to the rule of law – means he is a danger to our democracy. Our Constitution guarantees everyone has the right to believe or not and ensures that no one’s religious beliefs are favored.</p>
<p>“Time and time again, Roy Moore has trampled on religious freedom and used his elected office to try to elevate his religious beliefs above the Constitution. Americans United has fought his reckless agenda for 20 years. We were ready to do it again, but we're pleased that we don't have to." </p>
<p>Americans United was among the organizations that successfully <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/december-2002-church-state/featured/moores-monumental-defeat" target="_blank">sued Moore in 2001</a> over his display of a large Ten Commandments monument in the Judicial Building in Montgomery. The organization also <a href="https://au.org/media/press-releases/federal-court-was-right-to-issue-permanent-injunction-on-ala-marriage-equality" target="_blank">successfully fought Moore</a> last year when he attempted to block marriage equality in Alabama.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/doug-jones">Doug Jones</a></span></div></div>Wed, 13 Dec 2017 03:49:41 +0000Liz Hayes13435 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-applauds-alabama-voters-rejection-of-roy-moore-for-us-senate#commentsRoy Moore Has Always Believed He’s Above The Lawhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/roy-moore-has-always-believed-he-s-above-the-law
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Back in the late 1990s when Roy Moore was a local judge in Etowah County, Ala., he was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for opening courtroom sessions with prayer and displaying a hand-carved Ten Commandments monument in his courtroom.</p>
<p>Moore had garnered national attention with his vow to defy any ruling against him, and his defenders thought the time was right to bring him to Washington, D.C., for a press conference.</p>
<p>I attended the event and had the opportunity to ask Moore a question. I don’t remember the exact wording of our exchange, but it went something like this:</p>
<p>“You’re a judge,” I said. “What would you do if, after you handed down a ruling, one of the parties to the case announced that he or she would ignore it?”</p>
<p>“I’d hold them in contempt,” Moore declared.</p>
<p>“Then why shouldn’t you be held in contempt?” I asked.</p>
<p>What followed was a typical Moore rant about “God’s law” and how people had no obligation to follow court orders that violated that standard and so on. I walked away from the press conference convinced that “God’s law” and Roy Moore’s opinions were synonymous in his mind – which must be very convenient for him.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/Roy%20M%20on%20screen%20vvs%2017.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /></p>
<p><em>Roy Moore received a hero's welcome at the Religious Right's Values Voter Summit. </em></p>
<p>I thought about that long-ago exchange when news broke last week that Moore <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/woman-says-roy-moore-initiated-sexual-encounter-when-she-was-14-he-was-32/2017/11/09/1f495878-c293-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0_story.html">stands accused</a> of molesting a 14-year-old girl when he was 32. I’ve known for a long time that Moore is a man of shady ethics – he has been <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/ten-commandments-judge-roy-moore-falls-into-a-values-void">running a grift</a> through nonprofit groups for years, using money that people donated to a small Religious Right group he ran to pay himself a handsome salary – so evidence of a sex scandal didn’t really surprise me.</p>
<p>The day of that press conference, I learned something about Moore that I’ve not forgotten over the 20 years I’ve followed his career: Moore sees himself as above the law; he believes he has the right to pick and choose which ones he’ll follow.</p>
<p>Americans United got a taste of this in 1997 when we litigated a case against public school districts in DeKalb and Talladega counties. The districts were promoting religion in various ways, including sponsoring prayers led by students and clergy in classrooms, during school assemblies, at graduations and before sporting events.</p>
<p>A federal court ruled in our favor in the case, and Moore, then still a local judge, <a href="https://au.org/media/press-releases/judge-in-alabama-issues-order-blocking-federal-court-decision-against-school">issued a bizarre order</a> attempting to nullify the decision. It’s important to remember that this lawsuit had been filed in a federal court. Moore’s court had <em>nothing to do with it</em>. His order only confused things as the case proceeded through the federal system, resulting in <a href="https://www.au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/chandler-v-james">a final ruling favorable to AU</a> and its clients.</p>
<p>Stunts like this spread Moore’s fame throughout the state. In 2000, he won election as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.</p>
<p>The rest of the story is well known: Once on the high court bench, Moore arranged for a two-and-a-half-ton Ten Commandments monument to be erected at the judicial building in Montgomery. Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center joined forces and sued him, and <a href="https://au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/glassroth-v-moore">we won</a>. Two federal courts ruled against Moore. He promptly defied a federal appeals court and announced he would not remove the monument.</p>
<p>After an Alabama judicial oversight body removed Moore from the court, he spent a few years knocking around the Religious Right’s rubber chicken circuit and trying to get elected governor of Alabama. When that failed, he ran successfully for his old job again in 2012.</p>
<p>History soon repeated itself. In January 2016, Moore issued an “administrative order” instructing probate judges in Alabama to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2015 decision in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556"><em>Obergefell v. Hodges</em></a> that had the effect of legalizing marriage for same-sex couples nationwide.</p>
<p>Americans United and allied groups at the time were representing clients from the LGBTQ community who sought the right to marry. The federal judge overseeing our case, <em>Strawser v. Strange</em>, had little patience for Moore’s stunts and made it clear that <a href="https://au.org/media/press-releases/federal-court-was-right-to-issue-permanent-injunction-on-ala-marriage-equality">Alabama must abide</a> by the <em>Obergefell </em>ruling.</p>
<p>For the second time, Moore had once again defied a higher court. Complaints were filed against him, and the same Alabama judicial oversight body took up Moore’s case again, voting to suspend him from the state high court.</p>
<p>Over the years, Moore has been involved with various legal defense funds and nonprofit groups. He has twice been accused of financial improprieties. In 1999, Alabama’s Ethics Commission voted 5-0 to refer a complaint against Moore to the attorney general’s office. He was accused of receiving personal benefit from a legal defense fund his supporters created. Alabama’s attorney general at the time, Bill Pryor, was a Moore ally. To no one’s surprise, Moore was cleared. </p>
<p>More recently, <em>The Washington Post</em> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/undisclosed-deal-guaranteed-roy-moore-180000-a-year-for-part-time-work-at-charity/2017/10/11/5f56679e-a9de-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html?utm_term=.90b2c0e4d86e">revealed in October</a> that Moore had received an annual salary of $180,000 for part-time work at the Foundation for Moral Law, a nonprofit group Moore founded, despite once saying he didn’t receive a salary from the group. <em>The Post</em> reported Moore collected more than $1 million over six years as the foundation’s president, compensation that far surpassed what the group disclosed in its public tax filings most of those years. Experts in nonprofit tax law called the arrangement troubling.</p>
<p>Jerry Falwell Jr., Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association, Mathew Staver of Liberty Counsel and other Religious Right figures <a href="https://religionnews.com/2017/11/10/conservatives-defend-roy-moore-invoking-joseph-mary-and-the-ten-commandments/">have raced to defend Moore</a> against the charges of sexual impropriety. Some of his defenders are making really offensive arguments. In Alabama, State Auditor Jim Zeigler <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/alabama-state-auditor-defends-roy-moore-against-sexual-allegations-invokes-mary-and-joseph/article/2640217" target="_blank">told the Washington Examiner</a>, “[T]ake Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus. There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.”</p>
<p>Moore’s defenders insist this is all a scheme cooked up by liberals in the media to bring Moore down. That overlooks the fact that Moore’s chief accuser, Leigh Corfman, is hardly a tool of political progressives. She’s a Republican who voted for Donald Trump last year. The fact that Moore himself, in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/national-republican-senatorial-committee-ends-joint-fundraising-agreement-with-roy-moore-campaign/2017/11/10/f393278c-c62e-11e7-84bc-5e285c7f4512_story.html">an interview with Sean Hannity</a> that consisted mostly of softball questions, said he could not remember if he pursued teenage girls for dates when he was 32 doesn’t help his case.</p>
<p>It’s a tawdry affair but hardly surprising. Moore believes he is above the law, and his moral compass is like that of many right-wing fundamentalists these days: It spins wildly in whatever direction promises to provide an avenue to political power but provides no useful guidance for ethical behavior.</p>
<p><a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/360010-poll-37-percent-of-alabama-evangelicals-more-likely-to-vote-for-moore-after">A recent poll</a> of white evangelicals in Alabama showed that they were <em>more</em> likely to vote for Moore since the story broke. It’s further proof that supporters of the Religious Right, who are normally so quick to judge others, are morally adrift. They look to Moore as a leader, and he may, in fact, take them somewhere – but be assured that it’s a place where lots of Americans, including teenage girls, won’t be treated with even a modicum of respect or common decency.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tim-wildmon">Tim Wildmon</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jerry-falwell-jr-0">Jerry Falwell Jr.</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/afa">AFA</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ten-commandments">Ten Commandments</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/aclu">ACLU</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/southern-poverty-law-center">Southern Poverty Law Center</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jim-zeigler">Jim Zeigler</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/leigh-corfman">Leigh Corfman</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marriage-equality-0">Marriage Equality</a></span></div></div>Mon, 13 Nov 2017 15:38:40 +0000Rob Boston13364 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/roy-moore-has-always-believed-he-s-above-the-law#commentsFormer Ala. Judge Roy Moore Wins GOP Nod For U.S. Senatehttps://au.org/church-state/november-2017-church-state/people-events/former-ala-judge-roy-moore-wins-gop-nod-for-us
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Former Alabama Supreme Court justice Roy Moore on Sept. 26 defeated Republican rival Luther Strange to win the GOP nod for the state’s U.S. Senate seat, putting Moore in a strong position to win the slot in this deeply conservative state.</p>
<p>The seat was vacated by Jeff Sessions when President Donald Trump appointed him to be U.S. Attorney General. Strange was appointed to fill the seat temporarily (to the end of this year) by former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, just before Bentley resigned enmeshed in a sex scandal.</p>
<p>Although Strange was supported by Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Moore, who was supported by Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, won with a resounding 55 percent to 45 percent and will face Democrat Doug Jones in December’s special election. Political analysts have predicted Moore will have the edge over Jones in so staunchly conservative a state.</p>
<p>The fact that Trump’s pick was defeated is causing reverberations in the GOP.</p>
<p>Moore’s victory “has immediate and potentially dire implications for the GOP’s slim working majority in the Senate,” wrote Sean Sullivan for <em>The Washington Post</em>. “The growing hostilities (within the party) threaten the effort by Senate GOP leaders to foster enough unity in their ranks to pass a sweeping rewrite of the nation’s tax laws – which they are wagering is the only thing left that can reverse the political damage the party has sustained this year. Moore is seen as a wild card who could complicate, if not derail, that task.”</p>
<p>Moore’s campaign antics have been closely scrutinized in recent months. His August interview with the news website Vox raised eyebrows when he claimed Sharia law was being practiced in American communities. He offered this claim without proof, which led the fact-checking website PolitiFact to give it a “pants on fire” rating.</p>
<p>During the interview, Moore also asserted that the First Amendment of the Constitution was intended to foster and protect Christianity.</p>
<p>On Oct. 11, <em>The Washington Post</em> revealed Moore had received an annual salary of $180,000 for part-time work at the Foundation for Moral Law, a nonprofit group he himself had founded, despite once saying he didn’t receive a salary from the group. <em>The Post</em> reported he collected more than $1 million over six years as the foundation’s president, compensation that far surpassed what the group disclosed in its public tax filings most of those years.</p>
<p>Moore announced he would run for Sessions’ seat in April, just a week after he resigned from the Alabama Supreme Court. He’d been suspended from the court for violating judicial ethics when he told the state’s probate judges to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting marriage equality, and instead to uphold Alabama’s nullified ban on marriage for same-sex couples.</p>
<p>It was Moore’s second time running afoul of judicial ethics. In 2001, Moore was sued by Americans United and other groups after he erected a two-ton Ten Commandments monument at the Judicial Building in Montgomery. A federal court ordered the religious structure removed. Moore openly defied the court and refused, resulting in his first removal from the state’s high court.</p>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/au-bulletin/la-attorney-general-vows-to-bring-back-school">La. Attorney General Vows To Bring Back School Prayer </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/au-bulletin/okla-town-police-end-religious-facebook-postings">Okla. Town Police End Religious Facebook Postings </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/au-bulletin/ohio-chaplain-under-fire-for-comments-about">Ohio Chaplain Under Fire For Comments About Religion </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/au-bulletin/around-the-world-saudi-women-given-right-to">Around The World: Saudi Women Given Right To Drive </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/au-bulletin/lawmakers-tell-committee-to-protect-johnson">Lawmakers Tell Committee To Protect Johnson Amendment </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/au-bulletin/nm-science-standards-slight-evolution">N.M. Science Standards Slight Evolution</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/au-bulletin/texas-cheerleaders-get-win-in-state-court">Texas Cheerleaders Get Win In State Court</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-people--events"> <h3>People &amp; Events</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/people-events/former-ala-judge-roy-moore-wins-gop-nod-for-us">Former Ala. Judge Roy Moore Wins GOP Nod For U.S. Senate</a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-2 views-row-even">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/people-events/texas-churches-sue-fema-for-tax-aid-in-wake-of">Texas Churches Sue FEMA For Tax Aid In Wake Of Hurricane</a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-3 views-row-odd">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/people-events/nyc-accused-of-ignoring-educational-shortfalls">NYC Accused Of Ignoring Educational Shortfalls At Private Jewish Schools </a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-4 views-row-even">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/people-events/mass-supreme-court-hears-church-aid-case-filed">Mass. Supreme Court Hears Church-Aid Case Filed By AU</a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-5 views-row-odd">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/people-events/poll-shows-opposition-to-religiously-based">Poll Shows Opposition To Religiously Based Forms Of Discrimination</a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-6 views-row-even views-row-last">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/people-events/au-tells-la-school-to-drop-its-practice-of">AU Tells La. School To Drop Its Practice Of Official Graduation Prayers</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-viewpoint"> <h3>Viewpoint</h3>
<ul class="cs-department-list"> <li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/viewpoint/trans-targets">Trans Targets</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-perspective"> <h3>Perspective</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/perspective/change-and-challenges-americans-united-pushes">Change And Challenges: Americans United Pushes Into Its Next Decade</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-editorial"> <h3>Editorial</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/editorial/salutes-and-slogans-the-reckless-folly-of">Salutes And Slogans: The Reckless Folly Of Mandatory Patriotism</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-au-in-action"> <h3>AU In Action</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2017-church-state/au-in-action/staff-members-and-activists-support-separation">Staff Members And Activists Support Separation Of Church-State</a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:10:19 +0000Timothy Ritz13334 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/november-2017-church-state/people-events/former-ala-judge-roy-moore-wins-gop-nod-for-us#commentsSee You At The Pole: An Opportunity To Review Students’ Religious Freedom Rightshttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/see-you-at-the-pole-an-opportunity-to-review-students-religious-freedom
<a href="/about/people/liz-hayes">Liz Hayes</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Politicians like to lament the supposed lack of prayer in schools and blame society’s ills on this purported void.</p>
<p>Just last month, former Alabama Supreme Court justice Roy Moore, the Republican nominee to fill the state’s vacant seat in the U.S. Senate, <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/351334-roy-moore-us-has-asked-for-shootings-by-taking-god-out-of-everything">told a conservative Christian group</a>: “You wonder why we're having shootings, and killings here in 2017? Because we’ve asked for it. We’ve taken God out of everything. We’ve taken prayer out of school, we’ve taken prayer out of council meetings.”</p>
<p>Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/kentucky-gov-matt-bevin-thinks-bibles-in-public-schools-could-have">told a West Virginia radio show host</a> that the violence spurred by white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Va., could have been avoided if school kids were taught the Bible: “When you go back a couple hundred years, in most instances, the only textbooks that were actually in our public schools were the Bible. …the more we’ve removed things that are biblically taught from society, the more we’ve seen the kind of mayhem that we were just discussing.”</p>
<p>But as a national event on Wednesday demonstrated, public school students are able to voluntarily express their faith. Google “See You At The Pole” and you will find <a href="http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/2017/september/students-gather-before-school-for-25th-see-you-at-the-pole-prayer-event">news stories</a> and pictures from all over the country of students praying around flag poles before the school day.</p>
<p>A more than 20-year-old campaign promoted by conservative Christian organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom, Focus on the Family and Liberty Institute, <a href="http://syatp.com/">“See You At The Pole”</a> encourages students to pray around a school flag pole either before or after school every September.</p>
<p>Although the sponsoring organizations’ intentions clearly include proselytization – they encourage people to pray for “the non-Christian students that could be reached through See You at the Pole” – as long as students and not school employees are organizing and participating in the events, they occur during non-instructional time and participation is voluntary, these are constitutional expressions of students’ religious freedom.</p>
<p>There are other ways young people can practice their faith in school. Students can individually pray, they can read religious texts during study halls or other free time and they can form and join religious clubs as long these clubs are treated the same as other extracurricular clubs.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/School%20flagpole.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 533px;" /></p>
<p><em>Students have the right to participate in voluntary, student-initiated prayer before the school day.</em></p>
<p>Where some schools cross the line is when they allow students to deliver prayers during school activities or at school-sponsored events. Even if students initiate the prayers and are voluntarily giving them, other students who may not share the same beliefs are being coerced to listen and participate. Compelling students to participate in religious activities violates their constitutional rights and creates the appearance of school-sponsored religion, also a constitutional violation.</p>
<p>This is the situation AU is challenging at a Louisiana school district. In Benton High School, which is part of Bossier Parish Schools near Shreveport, students delivered prayers at the beginning and end of a graduation ceremony in May. As we explained in a <a href="http://au.org//files/2017-06-08%20Benton%2C%20LA%20Prayer%20at%20high%20school%20graduation_0.pdf">letter</a> to the district, the prayers violated the First Amendment because they communicate the public school district’s endorsement of a particular faith and coerce participation in a religious exercise. Schools must be inclusive, and students shouldn’t have to choose between going to graduation and being exposed to prayers that conflict with their personal beliefs.</p>
<p>A concerned person informed AU, and we’ve asked Bossier Parish Schools to end the graduation prayers. We’ve not yet received a formal response from the district, but Shreveport-area news reports indicated the district does not intend to stop the prayer practice. Alex Luchenitser, AU’s associate legal director, told <a href="http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/education/2017/09/25/bossier-schools-respond-complaint-graduation-prayers/699983001/"><em>The Shreveport Times</em></a> our attorneys will talk with the complainant about potential next steps.</p>
<p>Public school employees also should not be leading students in prayer, either during class time or at school-sponsored events. Last month, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/federal-appeals-court-cries-foul-on-wash-football-coach-s-claim-that-he-can">affirmed</a> that a Washington high school had the right to stop former football coach Joseph Kennedy from leading students in prayer on the football field after games.</p>
<p>Bremerton School District’s superintendent asked Kennedy to stop, recognizing that Kennedy’s prayers pressured students to participate and created the impression that the school district endorsed his faith. When Kennedy ignored the superintendent and continued the prayer practice, he was placed on paid leave in 2015. He didn’t reapply for his coaching job when his contract expired at the end of the season; instead, he sued, claiming the school district had violated his constitutional rights.</p>
<p>But Kennedy was no victim. In reality, it was Bremerton’s students whose constitutional rights were violated. AU filed a friend-of-the-court <a href="https://au.org/files/pdf_documents/2017-01-04%20Bremerton%20amicus%20brief%20-%20corrected%20FINAL%20as%20filed.pdf">brief</a> in the case, <em>Kennedy v. Bremerton School District,</em> in support of the school district, and AU Legal Fellow Andrew Nellis <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/au-attorneys-will-defend-religious-freedom-in-two-federal-appeals-courts">participated</a> in an oral argument before the court to explain why the prayer practice violated the First Amendment.</p>
<p>The 9th Circuit <a href="https://au.org/files/2017-08-23%20Opinion%20Kennedy%20v%20Bremerton.pdf">agreed</a>, noting “such activity can promote disunity along religious lines, and risks alienating valued community members from an environment that must be open and welcoming to all.”</p>
<p>“Teachers and coaches don’t get to pressure students to pray,” Richard B. Katskee, AU’s legal director, <a href="https://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-applauds-federal-appeals-court-ruling-protecting-religious">said</a> in response to the court’s opinion. “Students and families have the right to decide whether and how to practice their faith. Public schools should be welcoming places for all students and families, and no student should feel like an outsider at his or her school.”</p>
<p>In response to an earlier “See You At The Pole” event, AU’s Communications Director Rob Boston wrote <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/what-s-ok-and-what-s-not-ok-a-school-prayer-primer">this helpful summary</a> of what religious activities are and aren’t permissible at schools. If you’re concerned that your school may be violating students’ constitutional rights, please <a href="https://au.org/get-involved/report-a-violation/form">report the potential violation</a> to us and our attorneys will review it.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/school-prayer">School Prayer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-issues-regarding-religion-schools-and-universities">Other Issues regarding Religion in Schools and Universities</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/matt-bevin">Matt Bevin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/see-you-pole">See You At the Pole</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/adf">ADF</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/focus-family">Focus On The Family</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-institute">Liberty Institute</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/school-prayer">School Prayer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bossier-parish-schools">Bossier Parish Schools</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louisiana">Louisiana</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bremerton-school-district">Bremerton School District</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kennedy-v-bremerton-school-district">Kennedy v. Bremerton School District</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/washington">Washington</a></span></div></div>Fri, 29 Sep 2017 13:22:39 +0000Liz Hayes13231 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/see-you-at-the-pole-an-opportunity-to-review-students-religious-freedom#commentsDonald Trump And Roy Moore Launch A New Raft Of Spurious, Anti-Muslim Claimshttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/donald-trump-and-roy-moore-launch-a-new-raft-of-spurious-anti-muslim-claims
<a href="/about/people/liz-hayes">Liz Hayes</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>It’s been a week of pants-on-fire-level, anti-Muslim rhetoric: Days after a U.S. Senate candidate made ridiculous claims about Sharia law being implemented in the American heartland, President Donald J. Trump recirculated a widely discredited trope about brutal war-time treatment of Muslims.</p>
<p>Both claims earned the top “Pants on Fire” rating from the fact-checking website <a href="http://www.politifact.com/">PolitiFact</a>. And both claims only served to stoke anti-Muslim sentiment as the country is still reeling from the hate-filled events in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend.</p>
<p>On Thursday, in the wake of terrorist attacks in Spain, Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/898254409511129088">tweeted</a>: “Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!”</p>
<p>Trump apparently was repeating the myth that U.S. Army Gen. John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing dipped bullets in pig blood and fatally shot Filipino insurgents who were Muslim during the Philippine-American War a century ago. Since many Muslims avoid pigs and pork, they supposedly would be so horrified at the idea of dying this way that it would keep radicals in line.</p>
<p>But as <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/aug/17/donald-trump/donald-trump-retells-pants-fire-claim-about-gen-pe/">PolitiFact</a> and any number of other sources will tell you, there’s no truth to the tale. Trump should know that because this urban legend <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/20/trumps-story-about-killing-terrorists-with-bullets-dipped-in-pigs-blood-is-likely-not-true/?tid=a_inl&amp;utm_term=.7c2c5bfde595">was debunked</a> more than a year ago after Trump proffered it while on the campaign trail.</p>
<p>AU on Thursday <a href="https://twitter.com/americansunited/status/898288777776566272">condemned</a> Trump’s statement as a reprehensible encouragement of bias toward Muslims. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, back in <a href="https://www.cair.com/press-center/press-releases/13390-cair-says-trump-s-pig-s-blood-remarks-endanger-u-s-muslims.html">February 2016</a> after Trump’s first known use of the Pershing story, said: “Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric has crossed the line from spreading hatred to inciting violence. By directly stating that the only way to stop terrorism is to murder Muslims in graphic and religiously-offensive ways, he places the millions of innocent, law-abiding citizens in the American Muslim community at risk from rogue vigilantes.”</p>
<p>Is it any wonder that three-quarters of American Muslims <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/american-muslims-are-worried-about-trump-but-they-still-believe-in-the">surveyed</a> recently by the Pew Research Center said Trump is seen as unfriendly toward Muslims? I suspect those respondents would have a similar reaction to former Alabama Supreme Court justice Roy Moore, who also made a spurious, anti-Muslim claim this week.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/TrumpCharlottesville.png" style="width: 800px; height: 887px;" /></p>
<p><em>President Trump continued to fan the flames of anti-Muslim sentiment this week.</em></p>
<p>Monday, on the eve of becoming the <a href="http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2017/08/whats_next_in_alabamas_senate.html">top Republican vote-getter</a> in Alabama’s special primary election to fill U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ vacated U.S. Senate seat, Moore made a ridiculous claim that Sharia law is usurping secular laws in the United States.</p>
<p>“There are communities under Sharia law right now in our country. Up in Illinois,” <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/15/16151182/alabama-senate-roy-moore">Moore told reporter Jeff Stein</a> from the news website Vox.</p>
<p>Stein was understandably skeptical and pressed for more information, but Moore didn’t have any specifics: “Well, there’s Sharia law, as I understand it, in Illinois, Indiana – up there. I don’t know.”</p>
<p>When Stein replied, “That seems like an amazing claim for a Senate candidate to make,” Moore responded, “Well, let me just put it this way – if they are, they are; if they’re not, they’re not.” (Oh, well that explains it, then.)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/aug/16/roy-moore/alabamas-roy-moore-says-whole-communities-midwest-/">PolitiFact</a> talked to a bunch of experts on the matter – the Illinois attorney general’s office, professors from three universities and the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. All said Sharia law has not been established anywhere “up there.” PolitiFact was blunt: “We found zero evidence of it.”</p>
<p>In these days of alternative facts and our president regularly <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/890260758050856961">tweeting</a> outlandish things, it might be tempting to brush off Trump’s and Moore’s obviously inaccurate claims. But the problem is that some will take these comments seriously and fan the flames of anti-Muslim sentiment.</p>
<p>As Americans United has <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/anti-sharia-bills-another-harmful-consequence-of-anti-muslim-sentiment">repeatedly expressed</a> when state lawmakers consider bills to ban Sharia law, there is no actual risk that Sharia or any religion-based law would replace American secular law. The U.S. Constitution prevents any religion from taking precedence in our courts or in our government. (Ironically, many of those who scream most loudly about Sharia law are far-right fundamentalist Christians who are trying to merge their religion with government!)</p>
<p>AU wrote to lawmakers in several states this year, including <a href="http://au.org/files/2017-3-20%20AR%20HB%201041%20Sharia%20Law%20Senate.pdf">Arkansas</a>, Iowa, <a href="http://au.org/files/2017-03-28%20MT%20SB%2097%20Sharia%20Law%20Veto.pdf">Montana</a> and Texas, explaining that the anti-Sharia proposals are unnecessary and potentially dangerous. A variety of groups, from the <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/policy/2011_am_113a.authcheckdam.pdf">American Bar Association</a> to the <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/08/08/anti-sharia-law-bills-united-states">Southern Poverty Law Center</a> (SPLC), also have denounced these anti-Sharia bills.</p>
<p>The fake news of Sharia law gaining a foothold in the U.S. feeds into the false narrative of all Muslims as a dangerous, organized group of extremists plotting to take over America. Meanwhile, as the white supremacists who chanted racial and other slurs while inciting violence in Charlottesville over the weekend aptly demonstrated, there are much more immediate, realistic threats to American freedoms.</p>
<p>But organizations like ACT for America – considered by the Southern Poverty Law Center to be a <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/act-america">hate group</a> – continue to use the threat of Sharia law to organize anti-Muslim, anti-immigration <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/06/10/live-blog-act-americas-march-against-sharia-rallies">marches</a> that draw support from the same racist ilk that rioted in Charlottesville.</p>
<p>With hate crimes against Muslims already <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/islamophobia-america-rise-hate-crimes-against-muslims-proves-what-politicians-640184">on the rise</a>, it is irresponsible for anyone – let alone the president or someone seeking office in the Senate – to make illogical, blatantly false claims about Muslims. Public officials are supposed to unite, not divide, our people.</p>
<p>Americans United will continue to advocate for religious freedom for everyone, including Muslims. In addition to educating lawmakers that anti-Sharia bills are a solution in search of a problem, we also are fighting Trump’s unconstitutional <a href="http://au.org/content/au-fights-trumps-muslim-ban-in-court">Muslim ban</a> in court and standing with our allies to show support for the Muslim community.</p>
<p>You can help. Earlier this year, we teamed up with Kristin Garrity Şekerci from Georgetown University’s Bridge Initiative to <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/standing-with-our-muslim-neighbors-how-you-can-be-an-ally">present resources</a> on how non-Muslims can learn more about Islam and how to be allies to our Muslim neighbors. And you can <a href="http://au.org/get-involved/updates">sign up</a> for our emails and stay tuned to <a href="http://au.org/">au.org</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/americansunited/">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/americansunited">Twitter</a> for updates on other ways you can help.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/outside-workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice-including-military-prisons">Institutional Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice (Including Immigration, Military, Prisons &amp; Healthcare)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/anti-muslim-discrimination">Anti-Muslim Discrimination</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/muslim-ban">Muslim Ban</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/anti-sharia">Anti-Sharia</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bridge-initiative">Bridge Initiative</a></span></div></div>Fri, 18 Aug 2017 14:00:17 +0000Liz Hayes13132 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/donald-trump-and-roy-moore-launch-a-new-raft-of-spurious-anti-muslim-claims#commentsFormer Ala. Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore To Run For U.S. Senatehttps://au.org/church-state/june-2017-church-state/people-events/former-ala-supreme-court-justice-roy-moore-to-run
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Embattled former Alabama Sup­reme Court Justice Roy Moore in late April announced his resignation from the bench and his plan to run for the U.S. Senate instead.</p>
<p>Moore, a Republican, had been suspended from his job as chief justice since Alabama’s Court of the Judiciary determined he had violated judicial ethics when he told the state’s probate judges in January 2016 to ignore the U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting marriage equality and to instead uphold Alabama’s nullified ban on marriage for same-sex couples. A special panel of judges sitting as the Alabama Supreme Court upheld Moore’s suspension in April.</p>
<p>A week later, Moore resigned and announced he would instead run for the U.S. Senate seat that had been vacated by Jeff Sessions when Sessions was appointed U.S. attorney general by President Donald J. Trump.</p>
<p>“I’ll stand for the rights and liberties of the people,” Moore said during his campaign announcement at the State Capitol, according to the Alabama news website AL.com. “My position has always been God first, family then country. I share the vision of President Donald Trump to make America great again.”</p>
<p>Former Alabama Gov. Robert Bent­ley, who himself recently resigned amidst a sex scandal, appointed the state’s attorney general, Luther Strange, to fill Sessions’ seat until a special election can be held later this year.</p>
<p>Strange also has announced plans to run for the seat. He and Moore will join a Republican field that so far includes state Rep. Ed Henry and Dr. Randy Brinson, president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, according to AL.com.</p>
<p>Ignoring federal law on LGBTQ rights was not the first time Moore found himself in trouble while serving as Alabama’s Supreme Court chief justice.</p>
<p>In 2001, Moore was sued by Americans United and allies when he erected a two-ton Ten Commandments monument at the Judicial Building in Montgomery. A federal court ordered the religious structure to be removed. Moore openly defied the court and refused, resulting in his first removal from the state’s high court.</p>
<p>After twice unsuccessfully running for governor, Moore was re-elected as chief justice in 2012 and held the seat until he was suspended again last year.</p>
</div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">People &amp; Events</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-12975" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/june-2017-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">June</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2017</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/june-2017-church-state/people-events/ariz-house-of-representatives-assails-atheist">Ariz. House Of Representatives Assails Atheist Legislator For Non-Theistic Invocation</a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/lgbtq-rights">LGBTQ Rights</a></span></div></div>Thu, 01 Jun 2017 16:16:53 +0000Timothy Ritz12995 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/june-2017-church-state/people-events/former-ala-supreme-court-justice-roy-moore-to-run#commentsIn Alabama, Another ‘Family Values’ Politician Fallshttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/in-alabama-another-family-values-politician-falls
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>There are people who support separation of church and state in the South – plenty of them. It has been my privilege over the years to meet with some. </p>
<p>They even exist in Alabama. But there’s no denying that many of the residents of that state – and the Deep South generally – are enamored of very conservative forms of Christianity and see government as a vehicle for promoting that faith. They call this region the Bible Belt for a reason.</p>
<p>That makes what’s going on in the Heart of Dixie more than just a little bit ironic: Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) has <a href="http://www.al.com/news/montgomery/index.ssf/2017/04/alabama_gov_robert_bentley_res_1.html">resigned due to a sex scandal</a>. The details are very salacious and involve the usual flurry of indiscreet text messages, semi-pornographic phone calls and incredibly reckless behavior. There are even <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/08/us/alabama-governor-bentley-impeachment-report/">allegations</a> that Bentley’s security detail helped him suppress news of his frolics with his former aide Rebekah Mason.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/Bentley.png" style="width: 800px; height: 457px;" /></p>
<p><em>Former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley is the latest "family values" politician to fall due to a sex scandal. </em></p>
<p>It should surprise no one to learn that Bentley, who was married to his wife for 50 years until she abruptly <a href="http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/08/gov_robert_bentleys_wife_filin.html">filed for divorce</a> in 2015, ran as a “family values” conservative who played up his conservative Christianity during his first campaign in 2010. He liked to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/us/alabama-governor-robert-bentley-sex-scandal.html?smid=fb-share&amp;_r=1">quote scripture</a> to legislators and opined that God had put him in office.</p>
<p>Bentley, a Southern Baptist deacon, got off to a rocky start with Americans United and other church-state separation advocates. On his inauguration day, Jan. 17, 2011, Bentley attended services at a Baptist church and offered some remarks. What he said <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/alabama-governor-apologizes-for-sectarian-remarks">was problematic</a>.</p>
<p>“Anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I’m telling you, you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister, and I want to be your brother,” he said. </p>
<p>Sounding more like a pastor than a governor, Bentley continued, “But if you have been adopted in God’s family like I have and like you have, if you’re a Christian and if you’re saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then … it makes you and me brother and sister. If we don’t have the same daddy, we’re not brothers and sisters.”</p>
<p>Bentley later offered an apology of sorts: “If anyone from other religions felt disenfranchised by the language, I want to say I am sorry. I am sorry if I offended anyone in any way.”</p>
<p>Bentley’s fall from grace gets even stranger when you add in the fact that Mason’s husband, Jonathan P. Mason, until recently <a href="http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/why_does_rebekah_caldwell_maso.html">ran Alabama’s</a> Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives, called Serve Alabama. He was paid $91,000 annually and had no experience in this kind of work. Prior to joining the state government, he was a TV weatherman. (Alabama’s new governor, Kay Ivey, handed Mason a pink slip shortly after being sworn in.)</p>
<p>What’s frustrating about all of this is not that yet another holier-than-thou politician turned out to be a hypocrite – that’s old news. (Yes, I’m talking to you, Newt Gingrich.) It’s that the results of fusing right-wing Christianity and government, which many in the Religious Right hold up as a model for the nation, have served Alabama so poorly.</p>
<p>Bentley is hardly alone. Remember, Alabama has also been embarrassed by the antics of Roy Moore, who has <a href="http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-applauds-ala-chief-justice-roy-moore-s-suspension-for-defying">twice been removed</a> from the post of chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court because he won’t accept that government should be secular.</p>
<p>A columnist for AL.com, a statewide news site, <a href="http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/04/alabama_did_this_to_itself.html#incart_most-commented_news_article">says</a> the state’s residents have no one to blame but themselves. It’s a harsh assessment, but it may be true. In light of it, I’d like to offer a little unsolicited advice: Maybe it’s time to stop picking political leaders on the basis of where they go to church, how many prayer proclamations they’re willing to sign and how many pieces of far-right social legislation they say they’ll ink.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s time to pick a leader who’s willing to work for all Alabamans, not just those who happen to be far-right Christians. And maybe, just maybe, it’s time for one who actually respects the separation of church and state.</p>
<p>It’s worth a shot. I mean, could things possibly get any worse?</p>
<p>P.S. No matter where you live, you can get involved in the battle to preserve church-state separation by <a href="https://support.au.org/donate">joining Americans United</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/robert-bentley">Robert Bentley</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/newt-gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/rebekah-mason">Rebekah Mason</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jonathan-p-mason">Jonathan P. Mason</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kay-ivey">Kay Ivey</a></span></div></div>Thu, 13 Apr 2017 14:06:21 +0000Rob Boston12858 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/in-alabama-another-family-values-politician-falls#commentsHere Are The Top Ten Church-State Stories From 2016https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/here-are-the-top-ten-church-state-stories-from-2016
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>In late December, you start seeing “Top Ten” lists for the year that was. So without further ado, here are the Top Ten Church-State Stories from 2016 (in my humble opinion, at least):</p>
<p><strong>Donald Trump elected president with strong support from the Religious Right. </strong> Trump, a real estate mogul and reality TV host, hardly leads a life of Christian virtue, but that didn’t stop him from rallying conservative evangelicals and <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/december-2016-church-state/featured/payback-time">winning the presidency</a> in November. During the campaign, Trump highlighted several themes of interest to the Religious Right. He <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/september-2016-church-state/editorial/pulpit-politicking-trump-proposal-is-a-huge">vowed to repeal</a> the federal law that bans houses of worship (and many other non-profits) from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office, and he promised to create a <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/donald-trump-s-school-choice-plan-doesn-t-make-the-grade">$20 billion private school voucher plan</a>. Trump even said <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/tis-the-season-for-the-war-on-christmas-hysteria">he’d pressure</a> store employees to say “Merry Christmas” in December. Americans United has vowed to fight back against any ill-advised Trump schemes that will mix church and state.</p>
<p><strong>Anti-separation Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies. </strong>Scalia, who died in his sleep in February while visiting a hunting ranch in Texas, was an acerbic opponent of church-state separation. Known for his sarcasm, Scalia <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/april-2016-church-state/featured/the-wall-banger">saw little use</a> for the church-state wall and consistently ruled in favor of religious majoritarianism. President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge, to fill the seat, but Senate Republicans refused to hold confirmation hearings. The slot remains open and will now be filled by Trump.</p>
<p><strong>Supreme Court case could open the door to more taxpayer-funded religion. </strong>The Supreme Court <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/march-2016-church-state/featured/shredding-the-first-amendment">agreed to hear a case</a> from Missouri concerning a church in Columbia that is demanding the right to take part in a state government program that gives community groups cash grants to buy recycled tires. The church, Trinity Lutheran, wants to resurface its playground with the material. State officials argued that the Missouri Constitution forbids all forms of taxpayer aid to houses of worship. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the church, it could weaken similar “no-aid” clauses in more than 35 other state constitutions. (As of this writing, the high court had not scheduled the case, <em>Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley</em>, for argument.)</p>
<p><strong>Fallout from the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling continues. </strong> Far-right fundamentalist Christians who own businesses such as flower shops, bakeries, photography studios and others or who work in government are continuing to argue that they have a “religious freedom” right to refuse services to same-sex couples. Several legal cases continued moving through state and federal courts in 2016, and Americans United's Legislative Department tracked and opposed <a href="http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/legislation/">dozens of bills</a> in Congress and in state legislatures that would <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/legislative-blowback-one-year-later-states-are-trying-to-undermine-the">undermine the high court's 2015 marriage equality ruling</a> under the guise of a twisted definition of "religious freedom." Through its <a href="http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/">Protect Thy Neighbor</a> project, AU continues to oppose the use of religion as a vehicle to discriminate against or harm others. </p>
<p><strong>Discriminatory provision removed from Defense bill. </strong>U.S. Rep. Steve Russell (R-Okla.), added a provision to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in April that would have authorized taxpayer-funded discrimination in every single federal contract and grant issued by the federal government, whether defense related or not. The Russell Amendment would have jeopardized critical workplace protections for anyone who works for a religiously affiliated contractor or grantee – falling hardest on workers of minority faiths or no faith, women and LGBTQ individuals. Americans United and its allies sounded the alarm, and after a lot of hard work convinced <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/rejectrussell-forty-two-senators-reject-dangerous-provision-to-sanction">more than 40 U.S. senators</a> to oppose the measure. The final version of the NDAA didn’t include the Russell Amendment. </p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/images/blog_post/Top10Stories_2016-Rotator.png" style="width: 752px; height: 352px;" /></p>
<p><strong>New litigation tests the boundaries of the <em>Greece</em> decision. </strong> The Supreme Court in 2014 (in a case brought by Americans United) ruled 5-4 that local governments may, under certain conditions, open their meetings with Christian and other types of prayers. The ruling in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2013/12-696"><em>Greece v. Galloway</em></a> stated that government bodies should work to be inclusive when it comes to invocations, a policy that is not being followed in some parts of the country. In August, Americans United filed a new lawsuit <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/october-2016-church-state/featured/non-theists-need-not-apply">in Pennsylvania</a> to ensure that secularists have the right to offer non-religious invocations before meetings of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and moved forward with a <a href="https://www.au.org/media/press-releases/brevard-county-board-must-not-discriminate-against-nontheists-civil-liberties">similar case</a> from Brevard County, Fla., that was filed in 2015.</p>
<p><strong>Roy Moore removed from Alabama Supreme Court – again. </strong>Controversial jurist Roy Moore <a href="https://www.au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-applauds-ala-chief-justice-roy-moore-s-suspension-for-defying">lost his job</a> as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in late September. A state judicial oversight body determined that Moore had defied a federal court when he told Alabama probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples – even though a federal court and the U.S. Supreme Court had said otherwise. Americans United applauded Moore’s removal from the court – for the second time. The first time occurred after Americans United successfully sued in 2000 over a Ten Commandments monolith that Moore put on display in the Alabama State Judicial Building. Moore defied the federal court’s order that he remove the display, leading to his <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/december-2003-church-state/featured/down-for-the-count">removal from the bench</a> in 2003. (Remarkably, Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley is <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/roy-moore-in-the-us-senate-yes-it-could-happen">considering appointing Moore</a> to the U.S. Senate.)</p>
<p><strong>Arizona charter school sued for using religious materials in class. </strong>Americans United in September <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/october-2016-church-state/featured/skousens-scandalous-schools">filed a groundbreaking lawsuit</a> against Heritage Academy, a string of charter schools in Arizona that AU says are basing lessons on religious teachings. The schools rely on books written by W. Cleon Skousen, a conservative Mormon whose views on the relationship between religion and government are rejected by the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The lawsuit, <em>Doe v. Heritage Academy, Inc., </em>is ongoing.</p>
<p><strong>Kentucky ‘Ark Park’ wins tax rebate subsidy. </strong> In one of the more disappointing stories from 2016, Australian creationist Ken Ham <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/radical-ruling-judge-approves-aid-package-for-ky-ark-park">was successful in a lawsuit</a> he filed to compel Kentucky officials to give generous tax rebates to Ark Encounter, a theme park based on a replica of Noah’s Ark. State officials had been reluctant to extend the aid because Ham’s park is clearly evangelistic in nature, but a federal court ruled that excluding the park would be form of discrimination. AU argued that the ruling was poorly reasoned and might not stand up on appeal, but Matt Bevin – Kentucky’s new Tea Party-friendly Republican governor – ended the suit and allowed the aid to go through.</p>
<p><strong>School voucher plan invalidated in Nevada. </strong>The Nevada Supreme Court in September <a href="https://www.au.org/media/press-releases/victory-americans-united-allies-obtain-ruling-permanently-enjoining-nevada">struck down</a> what would have been the nation’s largest private school voucher program, ruling that it ran afoul of provisions of the Nevada Constitution mandating that money appropriated for public schools be spent on only those schools. The lawsuit, <em>Duncan v. Nevada Office of the State Treasurer</em>, was brought by Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Covington &amp; Burling, LLP on behalf of five Nevada residents.</p>
<p>P.S. Law professor Howard Friedman of the extremely informative “Religion Clause” blog has created his own Top Ten list of church-state developments. You can <a href="http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2016/12/top-ten-religious-liberty-and-church.html">read it here</a>.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/faith-based-initiative-government-funding-religious-social-service-providers">The Faith-Based Initiative &amp; Government Funding of Religious Social Service Providers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-groups-involvement-in-candidate-elections">Religious Groups’ Involvement in Candidate Elections</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/judicial-nominations">Judicial Nominations</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/antonin-scalia">Antonin Scalia</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/merrick-garland">Merrick Garland</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/heritage-academy">Heritage Academy</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vouchers">vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/nevada">Nevada</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ken-ham">Ken Ham</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/matt-bevin">Matt Bevin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kim-davis">Kim Davis</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/trinity-lutheran">Trinity Lutheran</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/missouri">Missouri</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/brevard-county">Brevard County</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/steve-russell">Steve Russell</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-defense-authorization-act">National Defense Authorization Act</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/howard-friedman">Howard Friedman</a></span></div></div>Fri, 30 Dec 2016 15:12:35 +0000Rob Boston12554 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/here-are-the-top-ten-church-state-stories-from-2016#commentsRoy Moore In The U.S. Senate? Yes, It Could Happen.https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/roy-moore-in-the-us-senate-yes-it-could-happen
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>If U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is confirmed as U.S. attorney general, his seat in the Senate will be open. The governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley (R), will have to a name a replacement to fill out the rest of Sessions’ term, which expires in 2020. </p>
<p>Bentley is getting a head start on things by interviewing potential replacements. One of the names on his short list may surprise you: <a href="http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/politics/southunionstreet/2016/12/21/bentley-interviews-roy-moore-potential-senate-seat/95711472/">It’s Roy Moore</a>.</p>
<p>Yes, <em>that</em> Roy Moore. The infamous <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/april-2015-church-state/featured/court-jester">“Ten Commandments judge”</a> who believes he can ignore rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court could end up in the U.S. Senate. It’s mind-boggling.</p>
<p>Just as a reminder: Moore was removed as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court not just once but twice.</p>
<p>The first time was in 2003. Moore, who had been elected to the state high court in 2000, was sued in 2001 by Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama and the Southern Poverty Law Center after he erected a two-ton Ten Commandments monument at the Judicial Building in Montgomery.</p>
<p>A federal appeals court ordered that the religious structure be removed, but Moore refused, openly defying the court. For that stunt he was tried before the Court of the Judiciary, an oversight body in Alabama, and removed from the state’s high court.</p>
<p>Moore knocked around the Religious Right speaking circuit for a time, and he twice ran unsuccessfully in Republican primaries for governor. In 2012, he ran for chief justice again and was elected. </p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/rotunda.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 534px;" /></p>
<p><em>This is no place for Roy Moore. </em></p>
<p>But Moore couldn’t stay out of trouble. In January of 2015, a federal court struck down Alabama’s ban on marriage between same-sex couples in a case brought by Americans United and allied groups. The legal matter wasn’t in Moore’s court, but he tried to intervene anyway. In a letter to Bentley, Moore questioned the ability of federal courts to invalidate Alabama laws.</p>
<p>In June of 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down <em>Obergefell v. Hodges</em>, a 5-4 decision stating that same-sex couples have a right to marry under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. The ruling had the effect of invalidating bans on marriage for same-sex couples nationwide.</p>
<p>About six months after that ruling, Moore unilaterally <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/november-2016-church-state/featured/no-moore-embarrassment">issued a strange</a> “administrative order” advising all probate judges in Alabama that the ban on marriage for same-sex couples in the state remained in place. It obviously did not, as the federal court later made clear. Once again, Moore was urging defiance of a federal court. And once again, he was called on the carpet for it.</p>
<p>Several complaints were filed, and Moore soon found himself back on trial. He was removed from the court for the second time on Sept. 30.</p>
<p>Here we have a case of a man who clearly believes he’s above the law or that some version of “biblical law” (as determined by Moore) trumps regular old secular law. Moore has been punished for his arrogance and defiance twice by being removed from high office – and the response to that is to consider putting him in the U.S. Senate?</p>
<p>President-elect Donald Trump’s criteria for picking people to head federal agencies seems to be that the appointees are not only unqualified but disdainful of the departments they are expected to run. (Best example: Betsy DeVos, an advocate of private school vouchers, heading up the Education Department.) By considering Moore, Bentley appears to be following Trump’s example. In the Senate, Moore would undoubtedly engage in outrageous antics and self-promotion, but he wouldn’t accomplish anything for the people of Alabama.</p>
<p>Moore has repeatedly demonstrated that he has no respect for the rule of law. Allowing him to get anywhere near the Senate can only be regarded as a bad joke. </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/government-sponsored-religious-displays">Government-Sponsored Religious Displays</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jeff-sessions">Jeff Sessions</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/senate">Senate</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marriage-equality-0">Marriage Equality</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/obergefell-v-hodges-0">Obergefell v. Hodges</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ten-commandments">Ten Commandments</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/supreme-court">Supreme Court</a></span></div></div>Wed, 21 Dec 2016 21:34:52 +0000Rokia Hassanein12546 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/roy-moore-in-the-us-senate-yes-it-could-happen#comments